Important questions concerning eruptions - how big? what type? how frequent? can be addressed by examining the record contained within rocks erupted from a volcano, or frozen beneath it. Our objective in ERUPT is to provide new methodologies to relate the characteristics of volcanic rocks to the conditions leading to their eruption. Extending the volcanological constraints to integrate the geochemical and physical record of magma differentiation that is preserved in the rocks is the underlying principle of this proposal.

Tephra layers in isce cores from Antarctica help to constrain corrleations between distant deep ice cores and represent important time markers in the case they can be related to an eruption of known age. These time markers can be combined with existing chemo-stratigraphic parameters such as stratigraphy based on δ18O and δD/H.

To that end, we plan to determine major and trace element compositions, grain size and morphologxy of tephra layers from the deep ice cores EPICA-Dronning Maud Land and Dome Fuji (Dronning Maud Land).

With every large ship that passes the Panama Canal, sveral million cubic meters of water are needed. The Chargres Basin is the larges drainage basin providing water to the Canal zone. It is coverd mostly by primary and ecologically untouched rain forest. A multidisciplinary project involving ecologists, biologists, soil scientists, hydrologists and geologists attempts to develop a complete understanding of this reserve.